Ruto Says Dangote Refinery Scale Shocked Him, Backs $50bn Africa Investment Plan

Kenyan President William Ruto has praised the Dangote Refinery in Lagos, calling it a major engineering achievement and saying the scale of the 650,000-barrel-per-day plant exceeded his expectations.

Ruto spoke on Friday, September 25, 2026, during a tour of the refinery in Lekki, Lagos. He was accompanied by his wife, Rachel Ruto. He described the facility as a remarkable combination of science, engineering and creativity.

Ruto backs Dangote’s Africa expansion

Ruto said he had always regarded Nigerians as great people and aggressive go-getters, but the refinery’s size surprised him.

“I always knew Nigerians to be very great people, very aggressive go-getters. But I didn’t anticipate that it was at this scale,” he said.

He also backed Dangote Group’s expansion across Africa. “I just want to tell the Dangote family here that the government of Kenya is 100 per cent behind this goal, our goal,” Ruto added.

Dangote plans nearly $50bn across Africa

Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, said the group is targeting almost $50 billion in investments across Africa under its Vision 2030 plan. The plan is designed to support industrialisation across the continent, with Kenya expected to play an important role.

“We are going to spend almost $50 billion investments in Africa to industrialise our continent, and that’s why Kenya is taking part of that,” Dangote said.

He said Dangote Group will expand energy investments in Kenya, including a major power project in Lamu.

“Our power plant is very big, but the whole of Lamu would actually be double because we are going to produce about 1,000 megawatts in Lamu, and we will have 500 megawatts to sell to the government of Kenya,” he said.

Lamu refinery to start September 30

Dangote Petroleum Refinery is preparing to begin construction of a new 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lamu, Kenya, on September 30. The project is expected to cost between $15 billion and $16 billion and take about three years to complete. It is also expected to create 60,000 jobs.

The refinery is located to serve Kenya and other East African markets, including South Sudan, Uganda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is expected to reduce the region’s reliance on imported petroleum products. East African countries currently source a large share of fuel supplies from outside the continent.

Dangote Group is targeting group revenue of $110 billion by 2030. EBITDA is projected to rise to $30 billion from an estimated $10 billion in 2026.

Separately, Edwin Devakumar, Vice President of Oil & Gas and Fertiliser at Dangote Industries Limited, said the refinery plans to double its workforce. He disclosed this to journalists during a visit to the refinery in Lagos on Friday, September 18, 2026.

The workforce expansion is tied to Dangote Refinery’s plan to raise processing capacity from the current 700,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2029.

For Nigeria, the Dangote Group’s planned spending across Africa could strengthen its position as a major private-sector investor on the continent. For Kenyan consumers, the Lamu project is expected to cut reliance on imported fuel if it is delivered on schedule.